Quite some time ago ( in fact in June of 2007 ) I wrote that I liked some of the spanish names for superheroes better than the original names. Moon Knight, Avengers or Iron Man doesn´t sound as Airwolf as Caballero Luna, Vengadores and Hombre de Hierro.
Quote from myself : PEDAZOS DE ODIO ! Now doesn´t that sound better than any original title could ? Sometimes the spanish translations have a better ring to it than english. I mean Iron Man sounds cool but the spanish name " Hombre the Hierro " is just oozing with machismo. If I was a wrestler that would be the kind of name I would go for. Or even better " El mucho grande Hombre de Hierro ". Yeah, that´s perfect.
Watching the 60s Marvel cartoons I found something that just shows how superior the spanish adaption can be to the original work. I know that sounds contradictory but I want all the readers who remember the opening title of the 60s Thor cartoon show to get an earful of El Poderoso Thor :
Now doesn´t that sound infinitely better than the original version ? And they said disco was dead. But wait, you haven´t heard nothing yet. Just wait for the theme song for Hulk - or la Masa how he was sometimes called in Spain. That´s almost like the bellcanto of big operas.
Now I didn´t know these songs because - 1 - I haven´t seen a lot of these cartoons in the spanish version or - 2 - if I did it was a long time ago and I don´t remember.
Apparently they were done under the name of Capitan Memo Aguirre by Juan Guillermo Aguirre ( born 1951 ), better known as Memo Aguirre, a famous Chilean singer whose voice has been heard all over Latin America, particularly during the opening acts of superhero cartoon shows during the 1980s. They were done for Latin America but were exported to most spanish speaking countries.
Here´s the title song for El Hombre Araña or Spider - Man how he is also called. A catchy little tune. The video is with footage from the Spider - Man movies with Tobey Maguire. Sorry, but I couldn´t find one with the full spanish opening.
Man, I want a CD with these song SO bad. I would totally buy this if they had it on amazon. Or like my paisanos say : Compratelo ya !
Here are a few more songs from the Hombre Araña cartoons. I can´t decide which is my favorite, especially that SPIDER POWER song sounds like a sure hit.
And since we had so many spidersongs already here are some from La Mujer Araña how Spiderwoman is called in Spain. The show stars Jessica Drew who also fought more mystical opponents in the comics - I think. Her powers are a bit different from our favorite webslinger.
Last but not least a few tunes from Los Cuatro Fantasticos. How could I ever live without it ?
And to show you that it´s not just some prank by some spanish guy who took some intros and put music on it here´s an episode of La Mujer Araña called LA VENGANZA DE DRACULA. Because nothing says " Merry Christmas " like vampires.
Actually vampires, werewolves and a few Frankenstein monsters.
In the story Dracula is out for revenge ( hence the title ) on Dr. Van Helsing who lives in his castle after defeating Dracula. The cur, how dare he ? It just serves him right to get turned into a vampire as well as all the freeloaders who are crashing at Castle Dracula.
Meanwhile Jessica is at the cinema watching ALIEN SPIDER with Jeff ( who´s always trying to get some quality time with Jessica ) and Billy ( the little brat who always makes sure Jeff gets none ) as her spider instinct picks up a disturbance in the force. Under the excuse to get some popcorn she goes to confront Dracula and shoots some bolts on him. When she gets back the thing with the popcorn is never mentioned again as both Jeff and Billy think that was just an excuse to leave the cinema because tia Jessica was just scared.
Dracula - who managed to escape - naturally he is not satisfied with turning Van Helsing and his party guests into vampires ( with some special rayo vampiro that he shoots from his hand ). No, he also digs up the Wolf Man and Frankenstein´s monster.
Who also transform people into werewolves and Frankenstein monster by using beams they shoot out of their eyes ( Wolf Man ) or their metal bolts ( Frankenstein´s monster ). So in short there are a lot of beams shooting back and forth.
Jessica ( who always pretends to have fainted to become Spiderwoman - ay, mujer ) even gets turned into a vampire / werewolf hybrid but thanks to a nearby labaratory she can cook up a chemical cocktail that turns her normal. Ah, the 60s, when superheroes had the scientific knowledge to whip up an anti - vampire - werewolf - elixir in no time flat.
So here are Dracula, the Man Wolf and Frankenstein´s monster in spanish ( although only Dracula has a speaking role while the other two just growl ) and more innocent bystanders turned into classic movie monsters than you can shake a stick at. And in the case of Frankenstein´s monster there were really some people crazy enough to shake a stick ( or a pitchfork ) at him.
So that´s all for today and next time we´ll be talking comics - promise. There are a few days left till the deadline for the big Christmas contest so drop me an e - mail. You can find the rules and everything else about the contest here so enter and wins some comics.
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